A licensed guide, a trained naturalist, and the rare guide who's spent equal time in all three of Ecuador's key birding regions.
I began my career as a naturalist guide in lodges deep in the Ecuadorian Amazon, learning the region's ecology and birdlife from the ground up — long before I had a license or a business card. That early fieldwork is still how I guide today: I'd rather explain why a hummingbird defends a particular feeder, or how to read a mixed flock moving through the canopy, than recite a checklist.
I went on to earn a university degree in Ecology and Tourism and Ecuador's National Tourist Guide license through the Ministry of Tourism, adding specialized training in birdwatching and field identification along the way. Over 16+ years I've guided in the Chocó cloud forest, the high Andes, and the Amazon lowlands — not as separate trips with separate specialties, but as one continuous body of field experience I bring to every itinerary.
I still personally guide every trip I sell — cloud forest to páramo to Amazon, days one through fifteen.
Issued by Ecuador's Ministry of Tourism. License number available on request — get in touch and I'll share it directly.
University training in ecosystem science and sustainable tourism practice, applied on every itinerary I design.
Focused training in field identification, calls and birding technique, layered onto 16+ years of practical field experience.
Certified in first aid for remote and outdoor settings — high-altitude Andean trails to multi-day Amazon lodge stays.
Tours guided fluently in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Additional training in the geology behind the volcanoes and highland landscapes birds actually depend on.
Most independent birding guides in Ecuador are anchored to a single valley — usually Mindo. It's a fine place to specialize, but it's one ecosystem out of many.
Yanacocha, Bellavista, Paz de las Aves, Mindo, Río Silanche — one of the planet's great endemism hotspots.
Antisana's Andean Condors, Papallacta and Guango's hummingbirds, San Isidro's 330-species list.
Wild Sumaco and the Yasuní lowlands — canopy towers, clay licks, and some of the highest biodiversity on Earth.
I can guide you through one of these, or all three in a single continuous trip — see current itineraries.
Tell me your target species (or tell me you don't have any yet) and I'll reply personally with ideas and pricing.